


ashes, ashes, we all fall down

by zhangjunftw



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), YHNEXT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst, Blood and Gore, Drugs, F/M, Gang Violence, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Street Racing, Violence, but just remember what kind of au this is, there's plenty of fluffy moments too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-05-31 00:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15108149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zhangjunftw/pseuds/zhangjunftw
Summary: where Zhang Yixing is the leader of the most powerful gang in China, and with Cai Xukun as the second in command and leader of 9 PERCENT, who are the elite chosen from the members of the gang.But when it is discovered that there could be a traitor amongst them, how will they deal with the threat?





	1. lunch appointment

In one of Shanghai's oldest and most expensive restaurants, the receptionist looked up from her desk as the lift doors opened, revealing a young man. Her eyes took in his fitted suit, which was clearly tailored specifically for him rather than one that was simply taken off of a rack. The blazer and pants were a deep navy blue, and paired together with his crisp white button up, he was perfectly dressed for what she assumed was a lunch appointment - not with a lady friend, she thought, noting the lack of flowers or any other gifts. 

He removed his sunglasses as he walked over to the desk, and she silently admired his features. With a face like that, perhaps he was a model - must be having a lunch appointment with a possible employer then.

"Welcome to the Jade Dragon, how can I help you today?" she asked when he reached the desk.

He smiled politely, showing off perfect white teeth. "I have a reservation." he said, taking out a card from his pocket.

She took the card from him - even his hands were pretty, she noted. Her brow furrowed for a second at the dark stains on the ends of his sleeve, but she quickly forced it back to her 'customer' face. Her brief change in expression did not escape his notice. "I was at a wine tasting earlier," he said. "You know how they are."

She laughed politely, looking through the records. "Ah, yes, Mr Cai," she began, stammering in shock as she read whose name the reservation was under. "Mr Zhang has already arrived." she said quickly, pressing the call button. A server boy appeared soon after. "Yang will lead you to his room." she said, gesturing at the server.

"Thank you." He smiled again. She gulped at the ice in his eyes, hoping that he didn't notice just how shaky her hands were as he took back his card. 

"Have a good day, sir." she said as he entered into the restaurant. Well, that certainly answered all of her questions: he definitely wasn't a model, and whatever was on the ends of his sleeves, she was confident that it was not red wine.

~  
Yang led him to one of the private rooms at the back of the restaurant. He knocked on the door, "Sir," Yang called, "Mr Cai has arrived."

"Enter," was heard from within the room, and Yang pushed the door open, inviting Xukun to go in.

The room was a decent size, not too big for the 2 of them, but not small enough to cause one to feel claustrophobic. It was obvious that a good sum of money had been paid to furnish this room, from the wallpaper to the polished wooden furniture. 

The room's sole occupant was seated at the table. Zhang Yixing looked up from his newspaper as Xukun stepped into the room. "Thank you, please tell the kitchen that they may begin serving the food." Yixing said politely. Yang bowed again and closed the door after him. 

"Zhang lao-shi," Xukun greeted with a small bow, hiding his hands behind his back.

"Hello, Xukun. You're a little later than I expected," Yixing remarked. "Have a seat." he said, gesturing at him to sit down.

Xukun sat down in the chair. "The target came out a little sooner than scheduled. I had to dispose of him." he explained. "I've already called Ruibin to deal with clean-up."

Yixing nodded. "I see. And the files?"

Xukun reached into his pocket, taking out a pen-drive. "Everything is in here," he said, handing it to Yixing. "I destroyed his laptop and mobile devices, and burned all related papers I found in his apartment. There's nothing left. I made sure of it." 

Yixing nodded, tucking the pen-drive into his pocket. "Good." he said, and for a brief second, Xukun hoped that perhaps Yixing hadn't noticed his mistake, but then Yixing continued, "Blue is a nice colour, Xukun, but perhaps a classic black suit would be more suitable in the future." he said, shooting a look at Xukun's stained sleeve.

"Yes, Yixing." Xukun said, fighting back a grimace. The receptionist girl had noticed his sleeve, of course Yixing was going to notice the stain. 

There was a knock on the door, and a waiter entered with a plate of dumplings. After the door closed behind the waiter, Yixing gestured to Xukun to eat. "The dumplings here are simply fantastic." Yixing said, putting one on Xukun's plate, waving off Xukun's thanks as he took a dumpling for himself. "What do you think?" Yixing asked, watching as Xukun took a bite.

"They're pretty good," Xukun admitted. "Much better than that dim sum restaurant in Xinjiang that we went to last month."

Yixing nodded in agreement. "Yes, the dumpling filling is much nicer here." he said. 

"How was your trip to Korea?" Xukun asked.

"It was relatively uneventful." Yixing said. "One of my close friends brought me to this new restaurant that just opened in Seoul, they had some really good ribs. I'll give you the address on your next trip over. How have things in China been while I was gone?" 

"Nothing particularly fantastic happened. Zhangjing was going through the family's accounts last week and he discovered some inconsistencies in some of the accounts. Apparently Lee Zining has been stealing money from under her father's nose," Xukun said. "She was smart about it too. Wenjun managed to track down the stolen money to an overseas account."

"How much has she taken?" Yixing asked.

"About 500 thousand dollars." Xukun said. "At least, that's how much they've been able to confirm so far."

Yixing sighed. "I did warn her father to keep an eye on her, but I guess she never learned to keep her hands off of things that aren't hers." he shook his head in disappointment. "What a waste of talent."

"She fled from her father's estate a few hours after Zhangjing called Lee out to explain the inconsistent accounts and Wenjun confirmed that she hasn't been in touch with any of her family members." Xukun said. "Linong managed to track her down. He sent me an address to an apartment in Beijing this morning."

Yixing hummed thoughtfully. "You're going back after this, right?" Xukun nodded. "Take care of it before going home."

"Will do," Xukun replied.

There was a knock on the door, and Yixing smiled as the smell of the next course wafted into the room. "Enough talk about that for now. Let's enjoy our lunch. I've heard many good things about the steamed fish here..."


	2. work hard, play harder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> because participating in an illegal race is fine, so long as Justin isn't driving, but going to a club while underage means certain death by Zhengting.

On a rooftop in downtown Beijing, a young boy crouched down, taking out parts from his backpack and assembling them easily. "I'm in position," he said, clicking the final piece into place.

"Took you long enough to get there," his partner's voice said dryly through his earpiece. "He's on the 22nd floor, can you see him?" Chengcheng asked.

Justin looked through the scope on his sniper rifle - he could see their target, a middle-aged man, sitting inside his office. For all intents and purposes, he looked like an average businessman, who's business probably wasn't doing very well, if his receding hairline was any indication. "I can see him. Remind me again why we're supposed to kill him?" he asked.

"He's been stealing money from some very rich people, who are very angry. The usual. Didn't you read the file?" Chengcheng replied. "If you've got a clean shot, just get it over with, would you? There's an auntie who keeps glancing at me from the market."

Justin snorted, taking careful aim before pulling the trigger. He watched in satisfaction as the target slumped forward in his seat. "A perfect headshot." he said smugly, quickly taking the gun apart and placing it back into his backpack. "On my way down now." he said, jumping down onto the building next to the rooftop he had been on. "I wish Wenjun was here, then he could just disable the cameras and I wouldn't need to do all these acrobatics." he muttered, vaulting over air conditioning fans and other assorted roof fixtures.

"Dude, she's talking to her daughter and they're coming out of the market. Hurry up or I'm leaving without you." Chengcheng hissed into his headset.

"If you do, Zhengting will have your head," Justin rolled his eyes, but he quickened his pace, skipping down the fire escape stairs two at a time. "Can't even handle an auntie and her daughter," he grunted as he landed on the pavement. He could see Chengcheng's car from where he stood, as well as the older woman half-dragging a reluctant younger woman over to the car. Chengcheng was gripping the wheel tightly, watching the women warily, and Justin sprinted over to the car.

"Finally," Chengcheng swore, immediately speeding away the moment Justin had climbed in and closed the door.

"Fan Chengcheng, feared assassin, terrified of a harmless old auntie and her daughter. If she had come up to the car, what were you going to do?" Justin asked.

"Harmless old auntie, my foot." Chengcheng shuddered. "You didn't see the look in her eyes. Either she was going to get herself a son in law or she was going to kidnap me."

"She's at least 60 years old. Are you really trying to tell me that you can't handle a 60 year old auntie?" Justin cackled, having absolutely no sympathy for Chengcheng.

"You're still a kid. When you start getting aunties pushing their daughters on you and trying to arrange marriages, you will understand just how scary old women can be." Chengcheng deadpanned.

"I am just two years younger than you." Justin said, leaning back in his seat. "So, where to now?"

Chengcheng shrugged. "We're done for the day, so... Home?"

"Can't we go out? There's a new club that opened downtown." Justin said, looking at his phone.

"You are underage and you look like a baby. Also, Zhengting would kill you, then me, if he finds out that you went drinking." Chengcheng said. "I don't know about you, but I would rather not die for such a ridiculous reason."

Justin huffed, falling silent. Chengcheng was wondering if he had fallen asleep or something when Justin said, "Hey, Xiao Gui's calling you." Before Chengcheng could say anything, Justin had already accepted the call. "Hi, Xiao Gui!" Justin greeted cheerfully, ignoring Chengcheng's glare.

"Yo, Justin," Xiao Gui greeted. "You and Chengcheng finished with your assignment already?"

"Yep." Justin replied, popping the p. "What's up?"

"If you're going to answer my calls, could you at least put him on speaker?" Chengcheng said flatly.

"What's the magic word?" Justin said in a singsong voice.

"Huang Minghao, if you think I won't pull over just so I can beat your ass -"

Justin laughed, pressing the button to put Xiao Gui on speaker. "Okay, you're on speaker, Xiao Gui," he said.

"Yo, Chengcheng, you coming for the race tonight or what?" Xiao Gui asked. "I know you have nothing else to do for the night."

Chengcheng looked thoughtful as he weighed his options. "It has been a while since my last race." he finally said. "Where is the race again?"

"I'll text you the location," Xiao Gui replied.

"Can I come too?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, sure," Xiao Gui replied.

There was a chime as the message came in, and Justin read out the address to Chengcheng, who nodded. "Okay, see you in a little over half an hour," Chengcheng said, changing course to go to the race.

"Bye!" Justin yelled, hanging up.

~

Here's how the races work: Every other week, a race would be held somewhere in China, the time and location would be announced the week before the race and only those who received an invitation would be allowed to participate.

As Chengcheng pulled into the garage, the first thing that they noticed was how noisy the place was: even with the windows completely shut, the pounding bass music still could be heard clearly inside the car. As Zhengting had once dryly remarked, as long as Xiao Gui was around, there was bound to be some level of sound pollution.

There were some familiar faces in the crowd: Shengen, Bufan, Yanchen - "Oh, look, Jeffrey's here." Justin remarked, spotting the man standing with Xikan.

"Really?" Chengcheng craned his neck, trying to find Jeffrey. "Hey, Jeffrey!" He shouted, waving at him to get his attention. "Man, how long has it been? Two months? I was starting to wonder if you had been done in." he joked, greeting the others as well.

"Two and a half," Jeffrey smiled. "It's good to see you too. You here to watch the race?"

"Didn't you see the car they came in, Jeffrey?" Xikan snorted. "He's definitely racing tonight, with a beauty like that."

Jeffrey looked over at the car that Xikan pointed out, letting a low whistle. "Wow. That is gorgeous." he said. "But I thought you're still too young to get your driver's licence?"

"Well, I'm going to be 18 this year, so I'm actually old enough to get one." Chengcheng said. Jeffrey nodded, looking slightly comforted by that fact.

"Dude, think about what we do for a living here. Are you really more concerned about whether or not Chengcheng has his driver's licence yet?" Shengen laughed. "Licence or not, he's still a pretty good driver, in my opinion at least."

"Thanks, man." Chengcheng beamed at the praise.

"Justin, however," Shengen said, clapping a hand on Justin's shoulder. "As per Zhengting's instructions, has been forbidden from even getting into the driver's seat."

Justin rolled his eyes. "It was just one car accident." he muttered.

"It was also Zhengting's favourite car." Chengcheng whispered to Jeffrey, who nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry, it's only until you're 18, then Zhengting won't have any real reason to say no anymore." Shengen patted his back comfortingly.

"Fan Chengcheng!" they all turned to see Xiao Gui, who slung an arm around Chengcheng's shoulders. "You made it!" Xiao Gui said. "When did you get here? I didn't see you arrive."

"Just got here, bro." Chengcheng replied as Xiao Gui fist-bumped Justin.

"Well, now that you're both here, that means that everyone is here." Xiao Gui said. "And that means that it's time to race!" He shouted the last part out, and the crowd burst into cheers at his words.

"Let's go!" Xiao Gui shouted. "Bufan, get off of Yueyue already, you can suck face later!" Bufan yelled something back at him that Chengcheng couldn't hear, but guessed that it was probably something foul, from Shengen's laughter and the amused expression on Yueyue's face.

"Justin!" Chengcheng grabbed the younger's arm, pulling him along, and they made their way through the excited crowd to Chengcheng's car.

All the drivers drove out to the road - Justin counted a total of five cars, Chengcheng's included. Once all the cars were lined up, Shengen walked out and stood on a makeshift podium. "What's up everyone!" he shouted to be met with deafening cheers from the crowd. "Welcome to tonight's race, I'm your MC for the night, you know my name, don't you?" he grinned as the crowd immediately started chanting his name.

"First order of business! Let me introduce tonight's racers," Shengen said. "In the black car with the flame decals, if you have attended our races before, you would know him, the man who always wears mink, one of our regular racers: Katto!" Bufan waved as the crowd cheered.

"On the other side, we have a couple of relatively new faces. In the hot pink, we have Yamy! And in the white car next to hers, Sunnee! How will these new racers fare in tonight's race? Will the new blood be good enough to knock out the competition? We'll let their skills at the wheel speak for themselves later."

"And in the blue car, a face that hasn't graced our races for a while, some of you may remember him from last July's races in Shanghai: Adam! And his passenger for tonight, Justin!" Chengcheng grinned at the delighted screams from some of the crowd, while Justin waved enthusiastically.

"And finally, we have a racer who all of you probably already know, but for the benefit of those newcomers who may not: tonight's final racer, in the silver car, the one and only, Xiao Gui!" The crowd's cheers increased in volume as Xiao Gui raised his fist in the air.

"And those are your racers, folks. Anyone who hasn't laid down their bets yet, the booths are on your left. You still have five minutes remaining to make your bets. Moving on," he turned to face the racers.

"Racers!" he shouted. "You know the rules: no weapons allowed! First one to make it to the pier and back here wins the race. There are no consolation prizes. If it is discovered that you have in any way cheated, you will be disqualified and punished accordingly. Is that clear?"

"Yes!" Chengcheng shouted together with the other racers. He caught Bufan's gaze, who nodded at him.

"Good!" Shengen grinned. "Now -"

Chengcheng glanced over at his other side, watching as Xiao Gui put his headphones on.

"Let the race -"

His hands tightened around the steering wheel as he looked ahead. Justin was positively bouncing with excitement in his seat.

"Begin!" Shengen shouted, sounding his airhorn. All 5 cars sped out of the compound before the horn had even finished, leaving clouds of dust in their wake.


	3. win some, lose some (a lot)

Xiao Gui loved racing. He loved the cars, beautiful expensive monsters that they are. He loved the way the spectators all worked themselves into a frenzy watching the races, how they're all falling over each other to throw their money away at the betting booths, the way they scream his name when his car is the first to cross the finish line. 

But most importantly, Xiao Gui loved the feeling of freedom when he is hurtling along roads at breakneck speeds, with how it feels like he's about to start flying. It's the sense of control he feels when he has his hands on the steering wheel and his foot on the pedal - he could go faster, he could go slower, it is entirely up to him, and no one gets to tell him how to drive.

With his headphones on, he can't hear what's going on around him, which means that his focus is completely on the road ahead of him and his goal. However, he can imagine that Justin is probably screaming in Chengcheng's car - he can see the blue car in his rear view mirror now, overtaking Bufan's car at the turn. But that's not what really catches his attention - it's the hot pink car that's speeding down the road, one of the new girls. 

It's a beautiful model of a car, he thinks, and it is slowly catching up to him. For a second, he considered how much of an upset it would cause if he let her cross the finish line first, how many unfortunate gamblers would lose their bets - for a second, he's tempted to let her overtake him, just to see the amount chaos that it would cause.

But then that second is over, and Xiao Gui stomped down on the gas. The car launched forward, and she increased her speed, but as pretty as the hot pink car is, it can't match Xiao Gui's car, and he crossed the finish line a good five seconds before hers. Chengcheng and Bufan are close behind, and cross the line almost at the same time.

"Your winner for tonight's race, Xiao Gui!" Shengen bellowed over the screaming crowd. Xiao Gui grinned at the chants of his name when he stepped out of his car, waving at the crowd before he walked over to the owner of the hot pink car. "Yamy, right?" he asked, "I see that Shengen was not exaggerating when he said that you were good." he held out his hand. "I look forward to our next race. Welcome to the Ghost's races." 

Yamy grinned, shaking his hand. 

~

Meanwhile, Bufan and Chengcheng were arguing over who crossed the finish line first. Justin was supporting Chengcheng, "Making it two against one, so following the majority, Chengcheng crossed it first." Justin said.

"That's not fair, you're his partner, of course you're going to side with him," Bufan argued. "Xikan, come on, you were watching the race, back me up here."

"Why are you even asking me which of you crossed the line first, I wasn't even paying attention after Xiao Gui passed the line. I don't know why you're so worked up over it, neither of you are getting any money out of the pot anyway." Xikan said in exasperation. 

"There's more to racing than just the pot," Bufan snapped.

"Give it up, old man, you were fourth, deal with it." Chengcheng said teasingly.

"Who the hell are you calling old, you little shit -" Bufan growled, pulling Chengcheng into a headlock. "Has Zhengting not been disciplining you enough?" he said, giving Chengcheng a few smacks on the butt.

Chengcheng laughed, but protested when Bufan messed up his hair. "Ge, not the hair!" 

"No abusing Zhengting's kids, please, I don't want to get punished if Zhengting finds out," Yanchen joked, saving Chengcheng from Bufan's grasp. "That was a great race guys."

"And here comes the man of the night now," Xikan said, glancing over as Xiao Gui walked over to them. "So, how does it feel to win another race, Xiao Gui?" Xikan asked.

"Feels like my wallet got fatter," Xiao Gui laughed. "Come on, dinner's on me tonight!"

They burst into cheers, excited at the prospect of free food. "What's this? Xiao Gui is actually offering to pay?" Bufan yelled. "What happened to the Xiao Gui I knew?" he teased, slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"Get ready to empty your bank account, Xiao Gui," Justin cackled. "Because I am starving!"

~

"Thanks for the free meal, Xiao Gui," Justin let out a content sigh, patting his full stomach. Chengcheng let out a burp as he got out of his car, earning a disgusted expression from Justin, which he ignored.

"Is this going to happen every time you win a race? If that's the case, then I'd be happy to let you win." Chengcheng said, grinning at Xiao Gui.

"My bank account is really going to be emptied if I do this every time. You all are really no joke." Xiao Gui muttered. "The house is really quiet." he noted as they walked into the house that they all called their home. 

"It's almost 3 am, of course it's quiet," Chengcheng said, glancing at the clock on the wall. For a mansion with at least 20 boys staying in it on most days, to walk in to the house and not hear any of the usual noise and chaos - it felt weird. Even more weird was the fact that there was no familiar figure sitting in the sofa chair in the hall, waiting to give them a lecture. 

"Zhengting's not here." Justin remarked in a surprised tone. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked around the room, eyes sweeping over possible hiding spots in the room. "I don't see him anywhere."

"Me neither," Chengcheng said. "Maybe he's waiting to ambush us on the stairs."

"He's probably gone to sleep, relax," Xiao Gui said, walking down the hallway to the kitchen. The two younger ones followed after him closely, still checking their surroundings with suspicious eyes. "Why are the both of you so scared of him waiting to ambush you?"

"Look at the time. He's definitely waiting to chew us out for coming back so late," Justin hissed. "Don't be so loud, he'll know where we are."

"I can imagine it already: 'you only had to take care of one target today, yet you're only back at this hour, you probably had a lot of fun, didn't you?'" Chengcheng shuddered at the mental image of Zhengting saying that with that terrifying smile on his face. 

"Zhengting knows how the races are, 3 in the morning isn't particularly late - you did tell him that you were going to the races, didn't you?" Xiao Gui asked. The two of them looked at him with matching sheepish expressions, confirming Xiao Gui's fears. "Oh my god," Xiao Gui groaned. "You're both idiots."

"No lights!" Chengcheng hissed, smacking Xiao Gui's hand away from the light switch.

"Are you for real?" Xiao Gui groaned. "I can barely see 5 feet in front of me!"

"Here," Justin said, taking out his phone. "How's that?" he asked, turning on the phone's flashlight.

Xiao Gui let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, fine, I give up." he muttered, walking toward the sink. "I'll just get my drink, then we can go - HOLY SHIT, SPIDER!"

~  
It was 3 am, and Lin Yanjun was awake. 

Some days, he wished that Yixing had invested more in soundproofing the house, or that he had taken up Zhengting's offer to soundproof his and Zhangjing's rooms when he had had renovations done to his own room, because having his room next to the stairs meant that he could hear nearly everything happening downstairs. 

He turned over to look at the man lying next to him, relieved to see that he was still fast asleep. They had only just returned to Beijing around midnight, and when they got back home, Zhangjing had immediately collapsed on Yanjun's bed, not wanting to climb up to the upper bunk to sleep on his own bed. Yanjun couldn't blame him for being exhausted, they had had to attend meetings with five different suppliers today, and the last one had been a difficult one - Zhangjing had been ready to shoot at least one person, and Yanjun had been very close to letting him do it.

Yanjun sighed at the string of colourful words that followed the crash. Xiao Gui, he thought, recognising his voice, and just like that, his hopes for ignoring the kids and going back to sleep were gone. It was now 3:10 in the morning and he had a meeting to attend tomorrow morning at 8 am - he was not going to clean up after the murders that Zhangjing would surely commit if they woke him up.

Being careful not to disturb Zhangjing's sleep, Yanjun climbed out of bed, slipped out of the room, and made his way downstairs.

~

"Shut up, do you want to wake up the entire house?" Justin hissed as Xiao Gui continued his recital of every swear word he knew. Chengcheng was staring at the shattered remains of the mug on the floor, frozen in silent horror. 

"We need to get out of China." Chengcheng said.

Xiao Gui looked at him incredulously. "What the hell, Fan Chengcheng." 

"There is no country in the world you can escape to if Zhengting finds out you were involved, and you know it. So forget about running." Justin said, returning with a broom and plastic bag. "Here's what we're going to do. We are going to clean this up, then we deny any of this ever happened." 

"That's not going to solve anything? It's still broken?!"

"He won't know it's broken if there isn't any proof." Justin said.

"He'll notice it's missing in the morning," Xiao Gui said.

"But he won't know it's broken or that we did it, and that's all that matters right now," Justin said. "We can replace the mug later."

"That's what you said when you accidentally broke his sunglasses, but he still caught you anyway -"

All three boys froze when the kitchen lights lit up, heads snapping up to see a tired-looking Linong appeared in the kitchen doorway. Linong looked at the three of them, looking like deer caught in the spotlight, then at the shattered remains of the porcelain mug on the floor. 

"Is that Zhengting-ge's favourite mug?" he asked finally.

"Xiao Gui did it." Justin said immediately, pointing at him.

Xiao Gui gasped, a retort on the tip of his tongue when Yanjun walked into the kitchen. "Why are you kids making so much noise at three in the morning?" Yanjun yawned. "Oh, hey, Nongnong. What are you still doing up?" he asked.

"Ziyi gave me a file this afternoon and asked me to look into some of the records," Linong replied. "I came down to get some water."

While Linong talked to Yanjun, Justin and Chengcheng quickly swept up the broken pieces of the mug into the plastic bag and shoved the bag behind the bin, hiding it from view. 

"Huh. I see." Yanjun muttered after listening to Linong. "Don't stay up too late, get some sleep, yeah?" Linong nodded as Yanjun clapped him on the shoulder.

"Same goes for the rest of you," Yanjun turned back to the other three. "Don't stay here making noise, go to sleep. I'm not interested in cleaning up after what's left of your bodies if you wake Zhangjing up."

"Yeah, sure, ge." Justin replied. "Will do."

Yanjun nodded, turning to leave. He paused, turning back to them. "Wait, what did you all break just now?" he asked.

All three of them stiffened at his question. "Break? What are you talking about?" Justin asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"I heard a crash." Yanjun said, narrowing his eyes - he recognised Justin's expression: he only ever used it when he was trying to get out of trouble. He glanced at Chengcheng, who looked at him with wide eyes and a forced smile that looked more like a grimace. Xiao Gui avoided his eyes, suddenly finding the ceiling incredibly interesting.

Yanjun sighed. "Fine, whatever, just make sure you clean up whatever mess you made." he yawned. "See you all at a more decent hour."

After he had left, all three of them practically sank to the floor in relief. Linong shook his head as he walked over them to get a glass of water. 

"I think I almost had a heart attack," Xiao Gui breathed. 

"I thought it was Zhengting and that I was going to die." Chengcheng gasped. "My life just flashed before my eyes."

"Xukun and Ziyi came back in the evening, and the Zhengting went upstairs hours ago. They also locked their door, so..." Linong calmly sipped from his cup as the three of them went from relieved to grossed out at the thought of whatever was going on behind the closed doors of Zhengting's bedroom. Thank god Zhengting had his room soundproofed. "You're still going to die, just maybe not tonight. How did you break Zhengting-ge's mug anyway?" Linong asked.

"It was an accident -" Xiao Gui began.

"You launched that cup at that spider with full intention to kill it, what do you mean it was an accident?" Justin cut in.

"Listen here, you little shit -"

"Oh, is it this spider?" Linong asked, pointing at the spider sitting on the window ledge. Chengcheng and Justin both slapped their hands over Xiao Gui's mouth before he could scream, hissing at him to shut up. Linong sighed, quickly opening the window and ushering the spider out while Xiao Gui struggled to throw Justin and Chengcheng off of him.

"Okay, it's gone now," Linong said, closing the window. 

"Will you get your hands off of my face -" Xiao Gui swore, voice muffled by their hands over his mouth.

"You're too noisy, you're going to wake Zhangjing up." Justin hissed. "I don't want to die by his hand either."

"Let go or say goodbye to your fingers," Xiao Gui threatened, glaring at the both of them. When they hesitated, Xiao Gui opened his mouth, and they quickly retracted their hands to avoid being bitten.

"Anyway," Linong said. "Better go to sleep before you accidentally break anything else. Or wake someone up." 

"Yeah, we will, once we deal with the evidence." Xiao Gui muttered, with a glance at the plastic bag hidden behind the bin.

"Yeah, you should definitely clean that up," Linong yawned. "See you guys in the morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (rip xiao gui's bank account)  
> all of 9% live in the house - which is based on the idol producer mansion. it has bedrooms for all of them and some of the other gang members (IP trainees who will be introduced in later chapters - some have already been introduced) as well as training/practice rooms for them to spar in.


	4. "coffee or mass murder, make your choice"

It was early morning, the sun just starting to make its appearance in the sky. Most of the occupants in the mansion had started their days already, filling the building with noise: squabbles over the last shower stall in the bathroom, friendly chatter in the cafeteria over breakfast - but in a bedroom on the second floor of the east wing, behind locked doors, it was quiet, the only sound being even breathing of the room's three occupants. All three of them lay on the king sized bed, limbs splayed over one another.

Zhengting stirred, face scrunching in irritation at the light coming in from the windows. He groaned, half opened eyes glaring at the windows in the vain hope that it would make the sun go back behind some clouds and stop shining in his face. 

An arm wrapped around his waist, and he turned to meet Ziyi's sleepy gaze. "What is it?" Ziyi mumbled. 

"You forgot to close the curtains again, it's too bright," Zhengting grumbled, shuffling closer to Ziyi to snuggle against his chest. Zhengting could feel the vibrations in Ziyi's chest as he mumbled a quiet apology into Zhengting's hair. On Ziyi's other side, Xukun let out quiet snores - at least one of them was still enjoying his sleep, Zhengting thought. He looked at his two bed partners silently - Even now, how many years later after they had first started whatever this was, he still couldn't believe how vulnerable they allowed themselves to be around each other. If someone had told him that he would be able to have some semblance of a relationship - with Wang Ziyi and Cai Xukun, no less - Zhengting would have laughed and shot the unlucky bastard. 

Yet here we are, Zhengting thought as Ziyi absentmindedly ran his fingers through Zhengting's hair. He sighed, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep but then it was not like he would have been able to sleep in for much longer anyway, since he had work to do today. But staying in bed for a few more minutes wouldn't hurt, he decided, closing his eyes, listening to Ziyi's heartbeat and Xukun's quiet snores. 

After a few minutes of blissful silence, Ziyi was finally properly awake. "What time is it?" Ziyi murmured, breaking the silence.

Zhengting blindly reached over to the bedside table for his phone. "It's..." Zhengting squinted at his phone screen, trying to make out the numbers. "It's a quarter to seven." 

Ziyi nodded, the hand in Zhengting's hair moving to rest on Zhengting's hip. "Good morning," he pressed his lips to Zhengting's in a chaste kiss, an incredibly innocent gesture compared to everything that had happened last night. "How are you feeling?" Ziyi asked. 

"Sore, but nothing new," Zhengting smiled, glancing over at Xukun, who was still sleeping soundly. "Although I think we might have tired Xukun out." he laughed softly. 

Ziyi looked at Xukun with such fondness in his eyes that Zhengting might have felt jealous - but then Ziyi turned to him and looked at him with that same loving gaze that any jealousy that he might have felt was gone as fast as it had come. 

"You wanna use the bathroom first?" Ziyi asked. 

"You're the best," Zhengting smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He climbed out of bed and went into the adjoining bathroom. When he came out, Ziyi was on his side, propping his head up with his hand while his other hand was petting Xukun's head, a soft smile on his face as he looked down at Xukun's sleeping face. Zhengting couldn't blame him - Xukun's sleeping face could look really cute. 

"Still fast asleep, huh," Zhengting said, poking Xukun's cheek. Xukun grunted, but otherwise didn't budge. "Kunkun, time to wake up," Zhengting said into Xukun's ear, patting his shoulder gently. Xukun let out a quiet whine, burrowing deeper into the pillows like a petulant child. 

Time for more serious measures. Zhengting and Ziyi shared a look, similar sinister grins forming on their faces. Then they both attacked, fingers tickling Xukun's body. Xukun yelped, giggles escaping him as he struggled to escape from their hands, but being trapped between the both of them, there was nowhere that Xukun could escape to. 

"Are you awake yet, Kunkun?" Zhengting grinned.

"Yes!" Xukun half-laughed, half-shouted and Ziyi and Zhengting finally stopped torturing the poor boy. Xukun was breathless as he lay on his back, looking up at the both of them. "Was that really necessary?" Xukun asked.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Ziyi replied, giving him a peck on the lips. "Time to get up, Kunkun."

Xukun yawned, stretching his arms. "Just give me a couple more minutes," he mumbled, rubbing at his eye. Seeing the way Zhengting's eyes narrowed, he continued, "I won't go back to sleep, promise. Just a few more minutes."

"Okay, fine," Zhengting said. "Just remember that if you aren't downstairs in ten minutes, I'm sending Justin and Chengcheng to come get you." 

Xukun nodded sleepily, leaning over to kiss Zhengting's cheek. 

~  
Zhangjing gripped the mug of black coffee in his hand tightly, glaring at the black liquid with such intensity that if he glared any harder, the coffee might start steaming from the heat of his anger. While normally he enjoyed his job as negotiator, he preferred doing it after he had had a decent amount of sleep. Who even arranged for meetings at 8 am anymore? Who was even awake enough to be in an appropriate mindset for discussing deals involving huge amounts of money at 8 am? He couldn't even get up properly to attend his 8 am lectures during college, much less actually listen and focus to what was going on in class. 

Yet here he was now, awake after barely four hours of sleep. This was going to be a very long day.

Yanjun walked into the room then, finally done with his shower - looking at him, Zhangjing felt a surge of jealousy. Yanjun had had less sleep than him yet he still managed to look nothing short of perfectly presentable in his suit. God was just unfair, Zhangjing thought as he took a gulp of his coffee, glaring at Yanjun over the rim of his cup. 

Yanjun caught him looking at him, and he immediately smirked at Zhangjing. "Enjoying the view?" he teased. 

Zhangjing scoffed, setting his cup down. "What view?" he grumbled, stabbing at his breakfast. Yanjun merely chuckled, taking the seat next to Zhangjing. Zhangjing was always adorable, even when he was in this half-awake state when he was predisposed to violence. However, Yanjun frowned the moment he noticed the contents of the cup in Zhangjing's hand. "Why are you drinking coffee? You know that's bad for you," Yanjun said.

The look that Zhangjing gave Yanjun would have sent any other man running for the hills. "Try and take it from me and I will rip out your liver and feed it to you, Lin Yanjun." Zhangjing replied in a growl. 

"No bloodshed at the dining table please," Zhengting said, walking into the room just then. 

"Fine words coming from the man who literally slit someone's throat on this very table last month," Zhangjing muttered under his breath with a glare in his direction. Zhengting simply smiled beatifically at him, but his eyes were saying a different message altogether, and Zhangjing was reminded of just who Zhengting was. 

Considering the fact that they were in a room with sharp knives and other objects that could possibly be used as deadly weapons, Zhangjing huffed, giving in. It was too early for a proper fight anyway. Turning back to Yanjun, Zhangjing said flatly: "Coffee or mass murder, make your choice." 

They stared each other down for a few seconds, before Yanjun sighed, taking a piece of toast. The answer was obvious, they needed the deal to go through with minimal bloodshed and fuss, and with Zhangjing's current state, coffee was a necessary evil. He still watched in disapproval as Zhangjing drank down the rest of his coffee. Zhangjing met his eyes throughout before finally placing the now empty cup on the table. 

"I'm telling Chaoze anyway." Yanjun said, and Zhangjing rolled his eyes because "Really, Lin Yanjun, you're going to go and tattle on me to Lin Chaoze?" 

"It's not overreacting if it really is bad for you -" 

"Hey, have either of you seen my mug?" Zhengting yelled from the kitchen, interrupting their bickering. 

Yanjun thought back to the crash that he heard last night. "Nope, why?" he asked as Zhengting leaned against the doorframe, eyes looking over the table for any sign of his mug.

"It's not where it should be," Zhengting said, pursing his lips in annoyance before ducking back into the kitchen to take a second look.

"One of the kids probably took it by accident," Yanjun suggested. Zhangjing raised an eyebrow at his words - everyone knew which mug was Zhengting's, it was hard to miss the characters spelling out his name on the mug. "I'll tell you later," Yanjun mouthed at Zhangjing as Zhengting hummed doubtfully, clearly not buying into the argument. He returned to the dining room with Xukun's mug just as Linong walked in. 

"Good morning, Nongnong," Zhengting greeted, looking at his exhausted face. "You look terrible. How much sleep did you get?"

"Maybe two hours?" Linong yawned, sitting down across from Yanjun and resting his head on the table with a groan. Zhangjing reached over, patting Linong's head sympathetically while Yanjun pushed his plate of toast over to him.

"Eat something, drink some water," Zhengting said, taking the seat next to Linong. "Then you are going straight back to sleep, mister."

"I intend to," Linong mumbled, taking a slice of toast. 

"Anyway," Zhangjing glanced at the clock on the wall with a sigh. "We need to get going," he said, getting up reluctantly. "See you guys for dinner later." 

"Have fun, try not to kill anyone," Zhengting cheerily said. Yanjun reached over to give Linong a final pat on the head before leaving with Zhangjing. 

Ziyi came in a couple of minutes later, shooting a concerned look at Linong before glancing at Zhengting. "He had a long night," Zhengting explained. Ziyi nodded in understanding, taking the seat opposite Zhengting. 

"You don't have to rush through your assignments, Linong. You need to take care of your health as well." Ziyi said. 

"Yeah, I know," Linong yawned. "It just took longer than I expected, and I lost track of time. I'll send my report to you later, ge." 

Ziyi nodded, helping himself to some pancakes. "Is that Xukun's cup?" he asked, glancing at the cup in Zhengting's hand.

"Yeah, I couldn't find my cup. Where's Kunkun?" Zhengting asked.

"Probably getting dressed. He was just going into the bathroom when I left. He should be coming down soon," Ziyi replied. "The table is pretty quiet today. The rest of the kids are still sleeping?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Zhengting said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I wonder what they were doing last night."

"Justin and Chengcheng went to last night's race with Xiao Gui," Linong said, and Zhengting whipped his head around to look at Linong so fast that they could hear his neck crack. 

"Is that so?" he asked, in a tone that made Ziyi sigh and pour himself a cup of coffee, because he would definitely need the extra caffeine now.

"Yeah, I saw the results of the race and I saw them when they came back last night," Linong replied, either completely oblivious to Zhengting's change of tone or just didn't care what Zhengting was going to do to Justin and Chengcheng. 

"And what time was that?" Zhengting asked.

"Around 3 am," Linong replied.

"I see." Zhengting hummed, sipping his coffee. 

~  
"Huang Minghao, Fan Chengcheng!" Zhengting yelled, throwing the door to their shared bedroom open. Chengcheng sat up in his bed slowly, rubbing at his eyes, while Justin looked like he was reaching for something under his pillow. "Take your hand out from under your pillow, Justin." Zhengting ordered, and Justin raised his hands in surrender. "So, either of you want to give me an explanation for what happened last night?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Justin asked, trying to look innocent.

"Playing dumb is not going to get you out of this, Minghao." Zhengting said. "Now are either of you going to come clean, or does this have to be more painful than it has to be?" 

"How did you find out?" Chengcheng asked tentatively, despite Justin hissing at him to not admit to anything. 

"Linong might have mentioned that he saw you in the kitchen at 3 am during breakfast," Zhengting said. "Did you really think that I wouldn't find out?" 

Justin gulped, glancing at the window out of the corner of his eye - they were only on the second floor, he had done jumps like this before, they could jump out and make it to the garage -

"Chengcheng, I hope you're ready for your sister's phone call about this." Zhengting said, snapping Justin out of his plans for how to escape the house. "Because I am definitely telling her about you participating in last night's race."

"Oh, thank god," Chengcheng sighed, and Justin thought that they were in the clear, but then Chengcheng continued: "I thought you found out about your cup" and Justin actually considered throwing Chengcheng out the window.

"... What about my cup, Fan Chengcheng?" Zhengting asked, voice icy cold.

"It wasn't our fault, Xiao Gui saw a spider and he panicked and -"

"WANG LINKAI!"


	5. training out on the field

The gun range was near empty today, Xukun glanced around the room as he held the door open for Zhenghao and Ruibin to enter. Zeren was practicing with a simple handgun in hand, barely sparing Xukun a nod before shooting three successive perfect headshots in the paper targets. Yanchen, who was sitting at the gun counter, gave an appreciative whistle - but following Yanchen's gaze, it was clear that his appreciation was less for Zeren's perfect aim and more for Zeren himself.

"Hey, Xukun," Yanchen greeted with a grin as he walked up to the counter. "Playing babysitter again?"

"Hey, Yanchen," Xukun grinned back, leaning against the counter. "Staring at Zeren's ass again?" 

Zeren glanced over as Yanchen shrugged. "What can I say, it is a nice ass," he replied, shooting a wink at Zeren, who rolled his eyes, a slight flush on his face as he went back to target practice. 

"Anyway, how can I help you today?" Yanchen asked.

"A handgun for Ruibin and one rifle please," Xukun said. Yanchen hummed, turning to the shelves behind him. He handed a handgun to Ruibin after confirming that it was the usual model that Ruibin preferred. "As for rifles, since Haohao has never used one before," Yanchen laid out three different guns on the counter. "These are the ones that I would recommend for him to try." he said, welcoming Xukun to select one of the three.

Xukun glanced at the guns, he had used them all before - Yixing had made sure that he learned how to use every single weapon they owned in the armoury. "Oh, this brings back memories," Xukun muttered, trailing his fingers along the third gun. "This was the first rifle that Yixing taught me how to use." 

He had been thirteen, and Yixing had given the rifle to him, showing him how to hold it properly in his small hands in this very gun range. "Keep your hands steady, Kunkun," Yixing had said, voice calm and soothing in his ears, "Breathe in, breathe out - now pull the trigger." 

Xukun sighed, remembering the look of pride on Yixing's face the first time that he had hit a perfect score. It felt like an eternity ago.

"Time sure flies, doesn't it?" Yanchen's voice broke him out of his reverie. "So, I take it that you're going to be using that one for today?" 

"Yeah," Xukun smiled, picking it up from the counter. "Thanks, Yanchen."

~  
While Ruibin did his target practice in one booth, Xukun taught Zhenghao how to use the rifle, giving him the same advice that Yixing had given him, together with some of his own tips from his own experience using the rifle. 

"Try again," Xukun ordered, watching as Zhenghao fired another shot which missed the target. "You're leaning too far to the left, adjust yourself and try again." Zhenghao followed his instructions, and his next shot was much closer to the target. 

"Much better," Xukun nodded in approval. "Great progress so far. Keep adjusting yourself after each shot, you'll find your balance soon enough." Zhenghao nodded as Xukun walked over to check on Ruibin's progress. 

Ruibin had been a member of the gang for a longer time than most of the others, but after he had proved his potential with computers, Yixing had had him trained in computer hacking and the ways of gathering classified information instead of the art of assassination and weaponry, like Xukun was. There had never been any real need to train Ruibin to fight, since he was not required to be out on the field. However: "It appears that circumstances have changed," Yixing sighed, looking at the dead body at his feet and the shaking boy sitting a few feet away whom Qin Fen was trying to comfort. Ruibin had been lucky that Qin Fen had showed up when he had, otherwise it would have been his blood and his body on the floor instead. 

So Xukun had been assigned to train Ruibin in the basics. Looking at Ruibin's target, Xukun nodded in approval as Ruibin fired off another shot - not quite a perfect ten, but definitely a marked improvement from when he had first begun training. 

Zeren had stepped over to give Zhenghao pointers on how to improve, Xukun noted, glancing over at the younger boy, and Zhenghao was absorbing the advice like a sponge. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and as he read the message, he let out a sigh. Another target to dispose of - a supplier who got caught and was offering information about the gang to the police to lessen their own sentence. 

Well, he thought as he watched Ruibin and Zhenghao practice, Yixing did always say that actually being out on the field was the best kind of practice.

"Hey," Xukun called, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "How do you guys feel about going out to get some fresh air?" 

~  
Their first stop is an apartment building. The security guard steps aside with a bow when Xukun flashes his card. There is no one inside the modest apartment - and it doesn't look like anyone has stayed here for a while, judging from the layer of dust that has gathered over the furniture. "It doesn't seem like anyone has gone through the place yet. Zhenghao, you take the bedroom, I'll deal with the office," Xukun ordered. "Ruibin, you go through the computer."

They work quickly, taking the important files and shredding the rest. Ruibin clears the computer in no time at all, even planting a small surprise for the next person who attempted to use the computer. 

While going through the kitchen, Ruibin picked up one of the photo frames on the kitchen counter: the photo shows an unsmiling old man and a younger woman standing behind his chair, whom Ruibin recognised as their target. "Liang Yi Ning, 42 years old, no known partners or children, her business supplies the Wang family with various illegal plant extracts - she took over the family business after the death of her uncle almost 10 years ago, no previous incidents of any leaks - how did she get caught?" Ruibin asked, glancing at Xukun, who was busy putting papers into a paper shredder.

"Carelessness or just plain old bad luck, call it whatever you want," Xukun said dismissively, watching the paper strips drop down into the container.

Ruibin looked at the photograph for a moment longer - the younger Liang in that photograph, the niece who was chosen to lead her uncle's business over his other sons and daughters, the favoured child - so much promise and potential - had she ever expected that she might have gotten caught, sold out by one of her own? Or did she not expect to have gotten this far at all? 

"Ruibin," Xukun said in a low voice, startling Ruibin out of his thoughts, because how did he not realise that Xukun had moved to stand behind him? Xukun plucked the photo frame out of Ruibin's hand, tossing it into the bin together with the rest of the shredded files. "At the end of the day, a target is a target, no matter what their motives may have been, no matter who they may have been before." Xukun said slowly, and Ruibin tries not to shiver at the cold blankness in his eyes - this is what a child raised to kill looks like, Ruibin realises, and he prays that he never becomes unfortunate enough to have a set of crosshairs painted on his back.

Zhenghao returns with a couple of pendrives that he found inside the dresser, which Xukun crushes to bits with a hammer he found in the storeroom. The contents of the bin are set aflame, and Ruibin watches the flames devour the photograph, until Zhenghao pulls him away to follow Xukun, who is already halfway out the door.

~  
The house was in a secluded area near the edge of the forest. "There's two guards at the entrance," Xukun said as he checked his gun. "Ruibin, you disabled the cameras and security systems?" Ruibin nodded, tapping away on his laptop. 

"Haohao, you ready?" Xukun asked, glancing at the younger boy. Zhenghao cocked his rifle and nodded. "Let's see the results of today's lessons, shall we?" Xukun grinned. "The guards in front first."

Xukun watched with something like pride in his eyes as Zhenghao took aim and shot down both guards, one after the other. "Good job, Haohao," Xukun said, ruffling Zhenghao's hair. "Now to deal with the rest of them. Ruibin, you stay out here and continue to jam their communications. Anyone that comes out of that house that isn't me or Haohao, shoot them." Xukun ordered, holding out a handgun to him. 

Ruibin nodded, accepting the gun from Xukun. He couldn't help feeling a little more than a bit relieved that he wouldn't be entering the house with Xukun. But from the look in Xukun's eye - Ruibin had a feeling that he would still be using that gun later, even if Xukun made it sound like he was only the backup. 

~  
Xukun enjoys putting bullets in bodies - he is also known for being very, very good at it. But today's assignment is mainly for Zhenghao's and Ruibin's training, so he hangs behind and lets Zhenghao shoot down the officers. 

They clear the house easily - Xukun is almost concerned with the standards for police nowadays with how easily they fall, he didn't even need to pull the trigger once, Zhenghao managed to take care of them, even the one who managed to surprise and disarm him - that one was dealt with with a knife to the chest. 

A couple of officers drag their target out of the house through the back door, away from the fighting where Xukun and Zhenghao are. Xukun can see one of them desperately trying to contact someone, to call for backup, perhaps - Zhenghao fires a bullet through her head before Xukun can make out the words her lips are forming. 

Xukun raised his hand, stopping Zhenghao from shooting the other officer dead. "Let Ruibin deal with him," he said.

Zhenghao reluctantly lowered his gun, it was clear from the expression on his face that he doubted whether Ruibin would be able to deal with the officer. Before he could argue, however, a shot sounded from outside the house. Xukun smiled, striding towards the doorway.

The officer lay in a pool of his own blood on the ground, the bullet having went through his torso. He wasn't quite dead yet, but he would be in a couple more minutes, Xukun noted. The target, on the other hand - Liang Yi Ning was on her knees in front of Ruibin, still very much alive and not a single bullet hole in her. 

She was begging for her life, and Ruibin was hesitating. Xukun could see it in his eyes and the way Ruibin's hand holding the gun trembled the more he looked at her. Xukun couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could imagine it: maybe she would spin up some kind of sob story to garner sympathy, maybe the usual story about some secret child who was dependant on her - whatever story that could distract your opponent long enough for you to strike.

She lunged for Ruibin's gun, startling Ruibin enough to pull the gun from his hand, throwing him to the ground. She pointed the gun at Ruibin, but Xukun pulled the trigger first. Ruibin rolled out of the way as she fell to the ground, trying not to gag at the blood trickling from the bullet hole in her face. 

Xukun extended his hand out to Ruibin, pulling him back to his feet. "Next time, Bin, when I tell you to put a bullet in someone's head, you do it before they get the chance to even open their mouth." Xukun said, taking the handgun from the target's hand and slipping it back into his own pocket. "A target is a target. Never let anything they say distract you from that."

Ruibin swallowed, nodding at Xukun's words. "Now come on, help me clean this up." Xukun ordered, starting to pull the bodies back into the house. 

~  
"So, what did we learn today?" Xukun asked, glancing at his two passengers. 

"Always keep a backup weapon on your body," Zhenghao said, sliding his cleaned dagger back into its sheath. 

"Don't let yourself get distracted by a target," Ruibin said glumly from where he sat slumped in the front passenger seat.

Xukun nodded, smiling proudly. "You guys both did pretty well today," he said, reaching over to ruffle their hair. Zhenghao grinned happily at the praise and Ruibin gave a small smile, sitting up in his seat.

Xukun turned back to look at the house. With its doors closed, if not for the blood splatters on the front porch, it looked as if no one had ever been there. He took a lighter out of his pocket, tossing it out the car window. The flames raced up the trail of petrol leading to the house, and it wasn't long before the whole house was engulfed by the flames. 

He watched the dancing flames, admiring the reds and oranges and yellows, how they burned so brightly, a raging beacon of light in the dark night sky - until he had to tear his eyes away, blinking away the spots in his vision. He withdrew his hand back into the car, hairs tingling from the heat. 

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he sighed. As much as he would love to stay here and watch the building burn to the ground, to see the final glowing embers go out - "Let's go," Xukun said, glancing at the burning building one last time before driving away.


	6. spar with me

The sky is still dark when Linong wakes up - the proper kind of awake, not that half asleep state where he can just slip back into unconsciousness - he sighed, rubbing his eyes as he sat up slowly. A quick glance at the clock on his bedside table told him that it was only 4.30 am. He had crashed around 10 pm, so that meant that he had slept for... about a six and a half hours. Well, that was more sleep than what he had had for the past two days combined together - the security for that particular group had been bloody annoying to crack, not to mention just how much data he had had to comb through to find the specific piece that Yixing wanted...

He had known that being a hacker meant that although he would rarely ever be out on the field, that didn't mean that he would be getting any more of a regular sleep schedule than the other members who accepted field work - if anything, his schedule is probably worse than most of the others - since he was technically the gang's lead hacker, being the only hacker in 9PERCENT.

Without really thinking about it, his hand automatically reached for his phone and opened his inbox, scrolling through the numerous emails to see if Yixing had sent him any new assignments to deal with. He ignored the rest of the messages, if it wasn't from Yixing, then it could wait - those were for extra pocket money.

Finding no assignments from Yixing, Linong switched off his phone, setting it aside. He had just spent the past two days stuck in front of his computers, he would like to not have to look at a computer screen again so soon. "So what should I do now?" he muttered to himself as he got out of bed.

The original plan had been to go take a walk in the garden, but as he walked down the hallways, Linong saw that the lights were on in one of the practice rooms, and he immediately changed direction - because there was only one person in this house who would use the practice rooms at this hour.

Linong knocked on the door before entering - he had made the mistake of entering without warning before, and he had learned the hard way that Xukun was not someone that you wanted to sneak up on.

Xukun was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, judging from the sweat dripping down his neck, Linong guessed that he must have been in here for quite a while, and he had caught him during one of his breaks. "Hey, Nongnong," Xukun smiled at him as Linong walked over to him. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Linong grunted, sitting down next to him on the floor. "How long have you been in here?"

Xukun glanced at the clock on the wall, brow furrowing as he tried to remember how long he had been there. "Not too long," he said finally.

Linong hummed. 'Not that long' - that meant that he had been practising for at least the last three hours, then. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

Xukun let out a laugh, pushing his sweaty fringe back out of his face. "Yeah," he said, and that was all he said - because how was he supposed to explain to Linong that every time he tried closing his eyes and going to sleep, all he could see was bright flames and the light going out of his target's eyes - "Just needed to let some energy out." Xukun sighed, a half smile on his face as he looked at Linong.

Linong, who was two years younger than him, another boy whom Yixing had taken under his wing. He might not have been involved in the gang's activities until just a few years ago, but Chen Linong had been claimed by Yixing when Linong was still learning how to walk, and Linong had grown up around gang members. Xukun couldn't remember a time when he would come home and not find Linong in some corner of the mansion, whether it be watching the older kids having their practice matches, or drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen while typing away at his laptop.

It seemed only natural that Yixing would accept Linong as an official member of the gang - he was already a part of it anyway.

"Spar with me," Xukun said, startling Linong as he stood up.

Linong looked up at him. "What, now?" he asked incredulously. "I just woke up, Cai Xukun."

"You've spent the last few days cooped up in your room in front of your computers, you need the exercise," Xukun said, grabbing Linong's arms and pulling them. Linong let out a whine, stubbornly staying on the floor. "Come on, it's been so long since we last sparred." Xukun said, and Linong sighed, letting himself be pulled to his feet, because that tone meant that Xukun was not giving up until he got what he wanted, and what he wanted right now was a fight.

"Let me warm up first, at least," Linong grumbled. Xukun let go of his arms, standing back and watching as Linong stretched his limbs. The expectant look in Xukun's eyes was a little daunting, but his excitement was infectious, and Linong found himself also looking forward to sparring with him - it had been quite a while since they had last faced off against each other.

Even if the outcome of the match was almost certain, Linong still enjoyed every match he had with Xukun.

"Ready?" Xukun challenged, a grin on his face as he assumed starting position.

"Let's go." Linong grunted, bracing himself as Xukun moved first - lunging himself at Linong like a bullet flying from a gun.

Here's some reasons why Xukun likes getting Linong to spar with him: unlike Ruibin, Linong went through quite a bit of physical training - he did grow up in the mansion, and no child claimed by Yixing was left out of fighting lessons - and was perfectly capable out on the field. What he lacked in terms of finesse and subtlety when it comes to carrying out assassinations, he more than made up for in terms of brute strength - no one really knew how Linong was so strong, maybe it was from carrying all those thick files that Yixing occasionally would ask him to go through for inconsistencies.

But at the end of the day, Linong was a hacker, and Xukun was not first for nothing. Linong grunted as he was slammed down on the floor. "I win," Xukun grinned, standing over him, not even short of breath.

Linong grimaced, rolling on his side. "Would it kill you to pull your punches just a little?" Linong groaned, wincing as he sat up - he was definitely going to be feeling that tomorrow.

"You didn't, why should I?" Xukun asked as he sat down, rubbing at the spot on his arm where Linong had managed to punch. Linong bit back a grin at the sight of the bruise that was already blooming. "What's the fun of a fight if you hold back anyway?"

"True," Linong sighed. "So, how did I do?"

"You need to protect your right side more..." Linong nodded, listening as Xukun gave his critiques and committing his advice to memory. "Overall, pretty well for someone who spends most of their days in front of a bunch of computers."

"Hey, don't underestimate us techies," Linong joked, lightly punching Xukun's shoulder. "Can you imagine if I had trained to be a hitman like you?"

"You still wouldn't be able to beat me," Xukun said confidently. "You don't have what it takes to be a hitman, Nongnong - you're too soft."

"You say that as though I haven't killed before." Linong muttered.

"It's not just about the killing part," Xukun said, looking at him with something like pity in his eyes. "Don't think that I've forgotten how much your hands were shaking or how Zhangjing basically slept in your room for the week after that kill."

Linong ducked his head, looking away from Xukun. "'Anyone can kill, but not everyone can live with it', right?" he muttered, the memory of Yixing telling him those words still fresh in his mind.

"We each have our own places in the world," Xukun said, squeezing Linong's shoulder comfortingly.

"Wow, look at you, talking in that sort of manner, saying such wise words, you sound so old. Should I call you uncle?" Linong teased, letting out a yelp when Xukun playfully tackled him, wrestling him to the ground.

Later, when they were both lying side by side on the practice room floor, Linong asked: "Do you ever wonder how your life might have been if you weren't in the gang?"

"Well, if not for Yixing, I would be dead, so."

"No," Linong huffed, propping himself up on his elbows. "I mean, what if you weren't a part of all this? If you had been a normal kid, do you ever think about that?"

Xukun was quiet as he thought about it. "No, never." he admitted finally. "I was born into this life, this is my normal."

Linong nodded. "That makes sense," he muttered.

"What is it like?" Xukun asked.

"I grew up with you guys in this house, how would I know?" Linong laughed. "A lot less murder and breaking the law, I guess - and lots of studying. Remember that time when I had to act as a normal high schooler for a couple of weeks?" 

"Yeah, you were acting as a part time worker in that snacks shop to get intel on the target's security detail - his building was just opposite the shop, right?" 

"Yeah. Anyway, the shop owner tried to talk to me a couple of times while I was working there. This nice old lady was so concerned for my future when I told her that I didn't have any plans for college. I wonder why? It's not like they can teach me anything more that I don't already know or can't learn on my own."

"Well, we're not normal, remember?" Xukun hummed. "Do you... wish that you were? Normal?"

Linong hesitated, before shrugging. "Not really." he said, standing up. "Come on, we still have time - up for another round?"

"Ready to kiss the floor again so soon?" Xukun grinned. "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made a couple of minor edits (31/7/18)

**Author's Note:**

> hi, this is my first time posting stuff on ao3, so i'm still pretty new to the whole setup of the website. i'm not sure if I tagged this properly, so I might edit it later, but anyway, I hope you guys will like my fic :) 
> 
> here's my twitter if you wanna chat: https://twitter.com/zhangjunftw


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